Doctor Faustus | Style

Doctor Faustus Style

Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, a tragedy in five acts, tells the story of the title character's agreement to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for twenty-four years of absolute power.

Chorus

In drama, a chorus is one or more actors who comment on and interpret the action unfolding on stage. In Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, the chorus appears four times. First, it introduces the play's theme. Later, it provides the where and when in the narrative action. Finally, it relates the moral and helps the audience understand the significance of the closing scene.

Allegory

In an allegory, characters represent abstract ideas and are used to teach moral, ethical, or religious lessons. Marlowe's play contains a Morality Play, in which Mephistopheles orders a parade of the seven deadly sins to entertain Faustus. Sins like Pride, Envy, and Lechery are deadly, according to Christian religions, because committing one of them damns...
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